Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings

[anonymous1980]

Week End (Jean Luc Godard) - 9.5/10

[Reza]

The Propreitor (Ismail Merchant, 1996) 4/10

Slow tedious film.......but then what can you expect when the Merchant/Ivory team reverse their roles? A famous french author long settled in New York after escaping France during WWII.....her mother was carted off by the Nazis......decides to return to Paris when she learns that the apartment she lived in as a child is up for auction. The story revolves around her attempt to buy the apartment while her memories of her mother and her childhood keep haunting her. The film gets points for the lovely Parisian locations, the authentic sets and for the presence of the great Jeanne Moreau in whose face you get to see a lifetime of sorrow and joy.

A Home at the End of the Word (Michael Mayer, 2005) 5/10

Long rambling story about two childhood friends in love with each other.....or are they just in experiment mode? The story also involves an older woman who loves them both....... and they love her. There is a death, a pregnancy and suspected AIDS to deal with. Colin Farrell is cast against type and Sissy Spacek, as a quirky Mom, is exceptional.

Limitless (Neil Burger, 2011) 3/10

Chase film with a new twist....man at the end of his rope discovers a wonder drug that enhances his senses allowing him to become successful in life. Of course there is a price to pay.......serious side effects of the drug along with the bad guys who are after him for the drugs. Interesting premise which at the end of the day is merely a ho hum film. Bradley Cooper (the Hangover guy) is not bad while De Niro makes yet another appearance in a film to ensure he has enough spending money for the next three months of his life.

Ship of Fools (Stanley Kramer, 1965) 6/10

Passengers travelling on a boat from Mexico to Europe during the 1930s represent society during the era. Heavy handed story churns out the usual breast beating about the Jewish ''anguish'' at the hands of just about everyone around including the ''dreaded'' German Nazis. Nevertheless it is facinating to see the superb cast, some at their best (Oskar Werner, Simone Signoret, Heinz Ruehmann), some at their worst (Jose Ferrer), some campy (Vivien Leigh, Lee Marvin, Jose Freco) and some indifferent (George Segal, Elizabeth Ashley). Exquisitely photographed in black and white with great sets and costumes.

Picnic (Joshua Logan, 1955) 6/10

William Holden is very good (if rather old) as the drifter who comes into a small town and turns the head of all the lonely women living there. He falls in love with Kim Novak who is unbelievably wooden. Susan Strasberg and Arthur O'Connell take the acting honours while Rosalind Russell overacts as the spinster who throws herself at Holden and at O'Connell. Beautifully photographed in colour. The highlight of the film: Holden and Novak dancing to the tune of ''Moonglow''. And both leads certainly look amazing as a couple. Trivia: To appease the Hollywood censors Holden had to shave off his chest for all the scenes where he is shown with his shirt off. Nothing new, I suppose, as Salman Khan does that for every Bollywood film he appears in. Although in the case of Salman the shaved chest is to show off his muscular boobs !!

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (Mike Nichols, 1966) 9/10

Hilarious black comedy about an ongoing marital spat with Burton and La Liz at the peak of their vicious powers as the battling couple. Segal and Dennis are the unsuspecting couple who get roped into the night of verbal abuse. Brilliantly directed by Mike Nichols with all four leads in top form. Every part of the production is top notch.....from the photography to the sets and costumes to the editing and the score. A film to watch in order to savour the intense but often very funny dialogue. This is Elizabeth Taylor's finest performance. Burton is also very good but I stand by my preference of Scofield taking the Oscar that year.

Carmen (Cecil B. De Mille, 1915) 7/10

One needs to get past the earthy quality....read UGLY.....of Geraldine Farrar as Carmen. Once you accept that, the film becomes enjoyable. Farrar uses that earthiness to create a character who is not afraid of men and ends up not only destroying the Officer (matinee idol Wallace Reid) but also herself. It's a great performance full of passion. She proves that one need not have beauty to drive a man insane.

[Hustler]

The Human Resources Manager (Eran Riklis) 8/10


The Adjustment Bureau (George Nolfi) 6/10

[Reza]

Due Date (Todd Phillips, 2010) 1/10

I think road movies should be banned going forward if this is the sort of crap we get to see. I didn't expect this to be a classic but at least I thought I'd get to laugh a couple of times even if I very well knew it was going to be a rehash of all other road movies before. But this is totally unfunny, vile crap.

Robert Downey..........go and stand in the fucking corner and NEVER turn around!!

Hanna (Joe Wright, 20100) 3/10

A chase film that just goes on and on and has nothing much to say. Cate Blanchett needs to seriously retire that butch wig and start playing normal again. The interesting kid from Wright's Atonement is just plain bland in the lead. The loud soundtrack also got on my nerves.

Aradhana (Shakti Samanta, 1969) 8/10

Bollywood remake of that old chestnut ''To Each His Own'' for which Olivia de Havilland won an Oscar in 1946. It is obvious that the part is foolproof as Sharmila Tagore goes all out as a young unwed mother who has to give up her son, goes to jail on a false murder charge and grows old interacting with her son without him knowing her whole sob story. Tagore is superb and deservedly won the Filmfare award. What makes the film really jump start is her pairing with heartthrob Rajesh Khanna in the dual role of the lover and son and the timeless Kishore Kumar songs that Khanna ''sings''. The ''Roop Tera Mastana'' song sung during the sex scene is a Bollywood classic. And my favorite song.......''Mairay Sapnon Ki Rani....''.

The Killer Inside Me (Michael Winterbottom, 2010) 3/10

An interesting performance by Casey Affleck cannot save this extremely slow and tedious film. That one scene of violence is truly stomach churning.

[anonymous1980]

Django (Sergio Corbucci) - 9.5/10

[Reza]

Goya's Ghosts (Milos Forman, 2007) 3/10

Absurd melodrama about a woman (Natalie Portman) falsely imprisoned for heresy by the Spanish Inquisition, a priest (Javier Bardem) who rapes her and the painter Goya (Stellan Skarsgaard) who champions the cause of the imprisoned woman. The film is shockingly bad with the highlight being Goya painting the priest while he is being executed at the stake.

All the President's Men (Alan J. Pakulla, 1976) 9/10

I was so bored while watching this film almost 34 years back that I kept falling asleep.....and I've avoided re-watching it ever since. Until last night. The word ''riveting'' has often been used by critics to describe the film and it most certainly IS.......from start to finish. The Watergate scandal as exposed by Redford and Hoffman......err Woodward and Bernstein. The film is wonderfully acted by everyone starting with the two stars down to the actors playing the smallest parts. Special mention goes to Jason Robards, Jack Warden, Martin Balsam, Jane Alexander, Stephen Collins and Penny Fuller. A great film !!

The Kennedys (Jon Cassar, 2011) 7/10

The saga of the Kennedy clan. One of the best soap operas on TV this year. It has every possible ingredient that makes a soap watchable. Well acted by everyone in the cast especially by Tom Wilkinson who deserves to win an Emmy for playing the ruthless, ambitious and womanizing Joseph Kennedy Sr. Pity Gloria Swanson only got mentioned in a throwaway line by Sam Giancana.

[Reza]

Mr. Arkadin (Orson Welles, 1955) 4/10

Ok, I didn't get this at all. Welles seems to be re-churning Citizen Kane under a different guise. It didn't work for me despite the wonderful European location work, the off beat camera angles, the lighting and the eclecticly weird cast. Welles, himself, looks like a waxwork under that huge beard.

[Reza]

Character (Mike van Diem, 1997) 5/10

Oscar winning Dutch film about a young man who grows up unloved by his mother and is constantly persecuted (or so he thinks) by his father. The film is a marvel of production design with the filmmakers recreating Rotterdam of the 1920s. Extremely bleak and often very melodramatic.

I guess I need to rewatch it but I remember really liking it for some reason back then. It was one of the first films I commented here and someone told me something like "another one who felt under the notion that this is an important film". I even felt scolded!

.....but that's the best part of being part of this Board.........getting scolded !!

[Reza]

- The Thin Red Line (Terrence Malick, 1998):............ The other thing that really improved with this second view 12 years later was the cinematography, which now I think is outstanding.

Yes, that's what Malick always is..........''outstanding cinematography''.

[Reza]

Swann in Love (Volker Schlondorff, 1984) 3/10

What a lifeless film despite the great production design, Sven Nykvist's lush cinematography and good performances by Ornella Muti and Alain Delon. The film grounds to a halt each time Jeremy Irons appears, which is often considering he plays the lead. Irons seems extremely uncomfortable in the part and just coasts along dead pan. Also a crime that he is dubbed and his own marvelous voice cannot be heard. A major misfire.

[HarryGoldfarb]

Character (Mike van Diem, 1997) 5/10

Oscar winning Dutch film about a young man who grows up unloved by his mother and is constantly persecuted (or so he thinks) by his father. The film is a marvel of production design with the filmmakers recreating Rotterdam of the 1920s. Extremely bleak and often very melodramatic.

I guess I need to rewatch it but I remember really liking it for some reason back then. It was one of the first films I commented here and someone told me something like "another one who felt under the notion that this is an important film". I even felt scolded!

[HarryGoldfarb]

- The Secret of Kells (Tomm Moore and Nora Twomey): Pure candy for the eye and for that I’m thankful. It is a nice film that should be a must to children everywhere. The originality of it relies heavily on its visuals. I really enjoyed the authenticity of it and how cleverly placed were the autochthonous elements of Irish folk (the “name” Aisling, the naming of the cat “Pangur Bán”, etc). I can rewatch this film anytime… 8/10

- The Thin Red Line (Terrence Malick, 1998): I revisited this after I read Italiano’s comments on The Tree of Life post. I was in awe at reading his thoughts on this film, which he even considered some kind of a masterpiece. Considering that I trust deeply in his good judgment it struck me as odd the fact that I hadn’t the film in such a big esteem and immediately I blamed the fact that I first watch it with 18 years old and with a baggage certainly based on mainstream cinema. However, even though I may stand correct on some issues I underestimated then, my appreciation on the whole film is still way below than Italiano’s… Don’t know what that makes out of me but I can not do anything about it. For a start, I really liked Jim Caviezel’s performance. Actually, I hardly remembered him but right now he really impressed me. With some kind of lesser enthusiasm, I liked the restrained Penn and I thought Nick Nolte was perfectly cast, but other than that I wasn’t impressed by his “tough” persona. The whole cast did a good job but I don’t know what to think about the star-cameos… I know those were some necessities in order for the film to get the budget it needed, but in the end, they were more distracting (Travolta and Clooney come to mind) than effective. The other thing that really improved with this second view 12 years later was the cinematography, which now I think is outstanding. I even saw some poetic intention perfectly captured in images (and not precisely in those endless shots of animals that “reminds” us till sickness that the planet and life are larger than us and larger than our own stupidity). Nonetheless I still don’t like Zimmer’s score, the editing (and not because it wasn’t bad, I even found it somehow elegant but I just don’t like the created rhythm) and specially I have some problems with the directing… I find the film to be manipulative. Malick seems to be very engaged with his material, owner of a restless mind (a thing that I love on artists) and in need of delivering some big ideas. But on the other hand, he seemed to me like hesitating, as if he was taking some major decisions at the moment (even if those were right ones), dubious in his intentions and even random in his ideas. The fact that the original cut was up to 5 hours plus and that the final cut left more than 2 hours in the editing room (cutting out the totality of some performances by different actors) makes me think that he wasn’t pretty clear about where he was going to… In some scenes I felt a self-important aura that was totally unnecessary and the voice-over was effective only a few times (some questions were not profound in any way, but at least had some echo of their own). And probably the worst thing about the film were the “memories” scene and the “hard” contrast with the war itself. An underused Miranda Otto, turned into a prop, and a soap-opera storyline felt out of place and somehow offensive. The film is ambitious in scale and intention but I couldn’t get the supposed intensity it offers. Is it better than Shakespeare in Love and Saving Private Ryan? Probably yes but that’s irrelevant. May I recommend it? Absolutely yes, it is a great film and probably that can not be denied… a great effort indeed, with a superb execution even though in the end the result is somehow episodic and overrated. 8/10

[HarryGoldfarb]

- Dogtooth (Yorgos Lanthimos, 2009): Disturbing, intriguing, deeply interesting, outstanding. Great performances, an amazing script with a superb directing. Loved the camera choices and the explored themes (and specially the way they were explored). 9/10

- Princess Mononoke (Hayao Miyazake, 1997): How come I waited so long to finally see this marvelous film. Totally loved it and it's definitely on my favorites's list. I don't think the title's the best for the film... 9/10

- Rosetta (Jean-Pierre Dardenne and Luc Dardenne, 1999). I wasn't very interested in watching this film but it was like an old duty considering the Palm D'Or... The film ain't entertaining (it doesn't pretend to be so in the first place) nor I can consider it art. It is more like a social exploration, a form of social protest film (disguised as a drama) that must resonate pretty much aloud in some convoluted countries struggling with their first world status and their own inequalities. I like how the film portraits the impact of unemployment in younger generations and it struck some chord on me. Nonetheless, the "profound" and "complex" characters, specially Rosetta herself, at some points seemed deliberatly in need to convey a particular form of movie-making, the independet one that focuss on this desperate characters. It ain't my cup of tea but I can understand the warm reception and the Cannes award. Even though I do like Émilie Dequenne performance as Rosetta, I don't know how she beated Cecilia Roth at festival. I liked to some extent Fabrizio Rengione's performance. The ending was anti-climatic as hell... Maybe a rewatch could make me change my unenthusiastic mind. 7/10

- The Orphanage (Juan Antonio Bayona, 2007): Revisited after I first saw it back in 2007... this second time I was beyond the out-of-expectation fear and I could enjoy the great artistic values of the film. The script is solid and it struck me more as an old-fashioned drama with elements of fantasy rather than a horror film. Highly entertaining... 7,5/10

- Elizabeth (Shekhar Kapur, 1998): I just love this film... what can I do? I don't care about the historical inaccuracies, I find the film to be vibrant and exciting. Blanchet deserved the Oscar over Paltrow (o well, maybe Montenegro deserved it, but that's another discussion). The costumes design and the art direction are incredibly organic and authentic... This must have been like the 5th or 6th time I watch this film in its entirety... 8/10

[Reza]

Unknown (Jaume Collet-Serra, 2011) 6/10

Liam Neeson makes this Berlin set thriller work. He plays a man who survives a car accident and wakes up from a coma to discover that his wife does not recognize him and he is being pursued by assassins who are out to kill him.

Water For Elephants (Francis Lawrence, 2011) 4/10

Extremely old fashioned film set during the depression. A young vet runs away and joins a circus. Watching this trio of ''stars'' - Witherspoon, Pattinson & Waltz - is like trying to enjoy the sound of nails being run on a classroom board. The film has great production values though.

[Reza]

Wanted (Timur Bekmambetov, 2008) 4/10

A kick-ass Angelina Jolie and a couple of car crash scenes make the film move along swiftly. Wimpy James McAvoy all but halts the film dead in it's tracks.

The Way Back (Peter Weir, 2010) 3/10

Prisoners in a Russian Gulag in Siberia escape and some of them manage to reach India. A story with such great dramatic possibilities surprisingly gets a listless treatment by Weir. Every episode along the way lacks drama.

Mildred Pierce (Todd Haynes, 2011) 3/10

The trials and tribulations of a woman starting out in the restaurant business and raising two daughters on her own.

There are so many things wrong with this version starting with it's length. It just goes on and on. Should never have been a mini series. Kate Winslet has absolutely no chemistry with the two actors who play her kids. In fact she looks bored throughout. The actions of Veda as a child (the smoking / the famous slapping scene) just don't ring true. Yet another remake that can't hold a candle to the classic 1945 version with Joan Crawford.

Pickpocket (Robert Bresson, 1959) 8/10

Stark, suspenseful story about petty thieves and how they operate. Brilliantly acted by a non-professional cast. Great photography.

Monsieur Hulot's Holiday (Jacques Tati, 1953) 5/10

Semi-silent comedy about M. Hulot's visit to a small town beach resort for a holiday. I found Tati's personal visual gags a bore but he draws marvellous performances from every member of the cast playing assorted types at the beach resort.

Inception (Christopher Nolan, 2010) 7/10

Dazzling puzzle of a film with great production design, music and effects. It was my second viewing (on a smaller screen this time around) and I still had to get help to understand the smaller plot points. I had great help from 16 year old Lara who attacked the film as if she was sitting for one of her exams. In fact it was amusing to see her stop the film every 20 minutes and ''explain'' the plot points to all of us. She ''got'' the film the first time round but was thrown off by the spinning top at the end...........didn't want to believe what ''it'' could be signifying.

Heartbreaker (Pascal Chaumeil, 2010) 2/10

Incredibly boring comedy about a man who breaks up impending marriages by showing the bride that her fiance is not as desirable as himself. Then he quietly convinces the woman that he isn't the man for her. The scam is usually at the behest of the girl's father. A funny premise is derailed for me by the fact that Romain Duris and Vanessa Paradis have no chemistry. And dare I say that both actors' ugly looks put a damper on the romantic comedy aspects of the plot. Someone please tell Paradis that she needs to get the gap between her two front teeth filled. Let's face it she's no Lauren Hutton.

Character (Mike van Diem, 1997) 5/10

Oscar winning Dutch film about a young man who grows up unloved by his mother and is constantly persecuted (or so he thinks) by his father. The film is a marvel of production design with the filmmakers recreating Rotterdam of the 1920s. Extremely bleak and often very melodramatic.